If you happen to be a regular gamer on Sony or Microsoft’s online gaming platforms then chances are that you realized all wasn’t well in the video game world over the weekend. Sure, like any other online service, Xbox LIVE and Sony’s PlayStation Network are prone to the odd glitch here and there, which can result in downtime, but it seems that the weekend’s event was a little more serious. Sony’s PlayStation Network and Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE service were both brought down simultaneously by cyber attacks over the weekend, with a group calling itself “Lizard Squad” taking responsibility for the whole thing.

Destiny, the new game by the people behind Halo, Bungie, is currently in the midst of a public beta. The early version that is currently playable lets gamers create their own character and then go on some multiplayer killing sprees against not just computer-controlled AI, but also other gamers. Until now, the beta has been of the closed variety but now it’s open to just about anyone, so no invite code is required.

Everyone likes it when popular, and indeed awesome games get cheaper than their usual prices that they sell for, and it’s safe to say that Grand Theft Auto is one of the most anticipated and best selling franchises there are. So, when Major Nelson says that Grand Theft Auto 5 is on sale, with a massive 50% off its normal price, then we tend to take notice. More details can be found right after the fold.

After the monumental success of Grand Theft Auto 5, you could forgive Rockstar Games for taking its foot off the gas somewhat and merely enjoying the moment, but then again, we know just by playing the immensely enjoyable title that Rockstar is a company that simply doesn’t, by nature, rest on its laurels. Having remained fairly coy with regards to an upgraded, tweaked, and generally better version of GTA 5 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the PC, the company has now put the doubts to rest by making it official, and as you might expect, the gaming world has dived straight in to try and gather as many details as possible.

Grand Theft Auto 5 has been a monumental success for Rockstar Games, having broken all sorts of sales records following its release late last year. With a next-gen version for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, as well as the PC also in the pipeline, GTA fans remain very much engaged with this immensely popular title, and none perhaps more so than the guys at Zapruder Pictures. In Spain’s capital city of Madrid, the folks of Zapruder have parodied the entire trailer in real life, and the result, as you’ll see below, is truly something to admire.

Grand Theft Auto 5 wasn’t just the biggest release in the gaming calendar last year, but an entertainment launch of unprecedented proportions, smashing numerous records including many of those consistently claimed by Activision’s Call of Duty franchise. But despite incredible successes in 2013, the story of GTA 5 has not yet reached its conclusion, with an upscaled launch headed to the Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4 in due course. To give us an idea of just how much better it will look on the next-gen machines compared to those preceding, a new side-by-side clip has been released of the title on PS3 vs. PS4, and as you might imagine, the difference is stark.

DOOM will always hold a special place in the hearts of those of us that remember the first game to bear that name, and while it’s been a whole ten years since DOOM 3 had us all hiding behind our chairs, the enthusiasm for one of the world’s biggest gaming franchises hasn’t died down – even after that movie that did its best to scrape the entire thing off. If you’ve seen it, you know what we mean. If you haven’t, then you’re one of the lucky ones.

With E3 commencing today, it’s all about the games, and with Microsoft having spilled the details on a bunch of eagerly-anticipated titles including Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Halo 5, it’s almost Sony’s turn to take center stage and unleash some announcements of its own. If you’re a PlayStation fan and have been eagerly awaiting news, you’ll be pleased to learn that Battlefield Hardline has just arrived as a beta to the PlayStation Store, and with a simultaneous beta also rolling out for PC, fans of the immensely-popular franchise will be able to aid the process of creating yet another great installment.

When the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 emerged all those years ago, it was always assumed that both would offer backwards compatibility with the titles of their respective predecessors, but in the run-up to the current-gen machines – particularly Microsoft’s Xbox One – it quickly became apparent that things wouldn’t be so clear-cut. Since the Xbox maker’s latest entertainment machine landed late last year, gamers have been in limbo with regards to eventual support for Xbox 360 titles, and now some encouraging news has been revealed to suggest that this may, in future, become a possibility, which follows on forward from an earlier report that suggested the same thing.

Microsoft is really ringing the changes today in order to boost console sales, and off the back of the news that the Xbox One will soon drop $100 off its price tag by removing the currently-bundled Kinect sensor, the software giant has also decided that in order to enjoy the likes of Netflix, Hulu and YouTube on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, users will no longer have to stump up for a Xbox LIVE Gold subscription.

The Call of Duty franchise has been running strong for the past few years, and although some gamers have expressed angst at the continual re-hash of a theme that doesn’t appear to change much year-in, year-out, the sales figures suggest that Activsion’s flagship first-person shooter is still immensely popular to this day. The first trailer for 2014’s installment – Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – has just been released, and features Hollywood veteran Kevin Spacey. Check it out after the break!

It’s been a couple of weeks since The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game first appeared on mobile devices after hitting the App Store and Google Play for iOS and Android users respectively, and now, the full-on Spider-Man experience has arrived for Xbox. As announced by Larry Hryb, better known to most as Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson, the title is now on sale for the Xbox 360 as well as Microsoft’s all-new Xbox One, and if you’ve been waiting patiently to play this action-packed, movie-based epic, you can finally now get your fill.